Sendai, Miyagi Pref., Jan. 10 (Jiji Press)--The Miyagi prefectural government said Thursday that radioactive cesium exceeding a new state-set limit has been found in rice produced last year by a farm in the city of Kurihara in the northeastern Japan prefecture.

The rice contained up to 240 becquerels of cesium per kilogram, against the 100-becquerel limit set by the central government, officials of the prefecture said.

It is the first time that radioactive cesium above the limit has been detected in rice grown outside Fukushima Prefecture, home to Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant stricken by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, according to the officials.

As the farm produced the rice for personal consumption, it was not distributed to the market, the officials said.The prefectural government has asked nearby rice farms not to ship their produce.